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William  Kneeland  Townsend 


COMMEMORATIVE  ADDRESSES 


William  Kneeland  Townsend 


COMMEMORATIVE  ADDRESSES 


AT  THE 


YALK    I^AW    SCHOOL 


June;  i8,   1907 


NEW  HAVEN : 

THE  TUTTI^E,    MOREHOUSE   &  TAYI.OR    PRESS 
1907 

or  THi 
UNIVERSIIY    ; 

or 


>r^: 


*-'•'  A^ 


UNIVERSti 

Of 


The  following  Minute  is  taken  from  the  records  of 
the  Law  School : 

"  The  Faculty  of  the  Yale  Law  School  have  learned  with  deep 
sorrow  of  the  death  of  Judge  Townsend. 

He  became  Professor  of  Pleading  in  the  School  in  1881,  giv- 
ing also  instruction  in  Contracts.  On  the  foundation  of  the 
Edward  J.  Phelps  Professorship  of  Contracts  and  Commercial 
Law  in  1887,  he  Vv'as  appointed  to  that  chair  and  then  surren- 
dered the  subject  of  Pleading  to  take  up  those  of  Admiralty 
and  Sales  with  the  graduate  class.  After  his  appointment  as 
Circuit  Judge  of  the  United  States  he  soon  found  his  engage- 
ments in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  in  New  York  such  as  to 
oblige  him  to  relinquish  to  others  the  work  of  instruction  in 
the  branches  which  he  previously  taught,  but  he  retained  his 
seat  on  the  Governing  Board,  and  took  an  active  and  helpful 
interest  in  the  management  of  the  general  affairs  of  the 
institution. 

He  was  a  born  teacher.  He  had  a  wide  knowledge  of  the 
law,  and  had  it  at  read)-  command  in  the  class-room.  He  was 
quick  to  appreciate  the  difficulties  that  a  student  might  find 
embarrassing  and  no  less  prompt  in  suggesting  a  way  out  of 
them,  which  seemed  simple  after  he  had  suggested  it.  His 
uniform  courtesy  and  consideration  toward  all  endeared  him 
to  his  classes  as  they  did  to  his  associates.  To  the  Bi-centennial 
volume  of  legal  studies,  prepared  by  the  Faculty  in  1901,  he 
contributed  four  papers  of  especial  value. 

To  give  fuller  expression  to  their  sense  of  the  value  of  the 
services  rendered  by  Judge  Townsend  to  the  Law  School,  the 
Faculty  request  the  Dean  to  arrange  for  a  public  meeting  with 
commemorative  addresses,  at  Hendrie  Hall,  at  an  early  day." 


16688? 


Tlie  following  telegram  received  by  the  Dean  of 
the  Law  School  from  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  was  read  at  the 
meeting  in  commemoration  of  Judge  Townsend  : 

"Unable  to  attend  this  evening,  I  must  add  my  tribute  to 
the  memory  of  Judge  Townsend.  Clear-headed,  studious, 
faithful,  he  filled  every  place  in  life  to  which  he  was  called. 
The  light  of  every  gathering,  the  pride  of  countless  friends,  he 
was  of  the  noblest  type  of  Yale  graduates.  A  Yale  Commence- 
ment without  him  will  seem  like  a  rose  bush  without  a  bloom." 


COMMEMORATIVE   ADDRESSES 


President  HadlEy  :  We  have  met  this  evening 
for  some  words  in  commemoration  of  a  great  man  who 
has  just  left  this  School  and  New  Haven  and  this 
community.  The  opening  address,  as  is  fitting,  will 
be  by  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  State. 


REMARKS    OF   CHIEF   JUSTICE    BALDWIN. 

It  is  one  of  the  sayings  of  Euripides  that  riches 
are  good  and  strength  is  good,  but  the  best  thing  is 
to  be  beloved  of  many  friends. 

That  possession  beyond  price  Judge  Townsend  had. 

We  are  told  that  every  man  has  more  friends  than 
he  knows.  Most  men,  at  least  here,  in  the  land  of 
the  Puritans,  feel  much  more  friendship  for  those 
about  them  than  they  ever  express,  by  look  or  word. 
It  was  not  so  with  Judge  Townsend.  He  made  others 
feel  that  he  took  an  interest  in  them,  and  a  real  inter- 
est. He  did  not  blush  to  tell  them  so.  If  he  heard 
a  pleasant  thing  said  about  one  whom  he  knew  well, 
he  enjoyed  repeating  it  to  him.  He  could  frankly 
express  to  another  his  own  appreciation  of  him,  and 
do  it  as  a  simple  and  natural  thing. 

With  a  warm  heart,  a  winning  smile,  a  ready  hand, 
a  cheery  voice,  quick  humor,  and  sympathies  no  less 
quick,  he  became  the  life  of  every  circle  into  which 


he  entered.  Being  agreeable,  it  has  been  said,  is  a 
gift  from  heaven,  not  else  to  be  attained.  We  may 
learn  manners.  Emerson  declares  that  they  make 
the  man.  They  certainly  lend  to  strength  and  cul- 
ture a  grace  that  makes  them  doubly  valuable ;  but 
there  is  a  personal  charm  possessed  by  some  men  and 
more  women  that  no  pains  can  reproduce  in  another. 
No  one  who  knew  Judge  Townsend,  though  it  were 
but  slightly,  failed  to  remark  his  engaging  manners, 
nor  to  see  that  they  were  of  that  genuine  and  unaf- 
fected kind  that  comes  from  within.  They  were  not 
put  on.  They  belonged  to  his  disposition,  and  were 
its  necessary  expression. 

Schiller  has  compressed  into  six  words  a  world  of 
philosophy  :  "  Die  Liebe  ist  der  Liebe  Preis."  Judge 
Townsend  had  the  love  of  men  because  he  gave  them 

his. 

I  first  knew  him  as  a  student  at  Yale  College.  He 
was  not  forgetful  of  what  was  to  be  gained  there  in 
learning  and  culture,  but  I  think  his  heart  went  out 
most  of  all  to  his  classmates  and  the  social  life  that 
opens  out  so  delightfully  around  the  Yale  undergrad- 
uate who  enters  it  with  a  sympathetic  spirit.  He  was 
a  universal  favorite.  Billy  Townsend  was  welcome 
everywhere. 

He  entered  the  Yale  Law  School  soon  after  I  had 
commenced  to  give  some  instruction  here.  His  col- 
lege days  had  been  pleasant  ones.  They  had  also 
done  him  good  service  in  preparing  him  for  the  work 
of  the  world.  The  culture  that  an  academic  under- 
graduate may  be  expected  to  acquire  is  not  simpl}^  a 
matter  of  learning.  Life  on  a  college  campus  is  life 
in  a  little  social  world.  There  is  set  up  there  a  school 
of  character.     The  youth  is  introduced  to  manhood. 


He  is  introduced  to  men.  There  is  something  of  the 
refining  and  restraining  influence  of  the  family.  It 
is  a  larger  circle,  but  tliere  are  the  young,  guarded 
and  disciplined  by  their  elders,  and  insensibly  led  to 
walk  in  the  same  ways,  to  think  their  thoughts,  to 
look  up  to  them  as  masters  in  conduct  as  well  as  in 
science. 

All  this  belongs  to  the  secondary  stage  of  liberal 
education.  He  who  enters  a  professional  school  steps 
upon  the  third  and  final  stage  of  liberal  education  : 
final,  so  far  as  the  actual  work  of  scholastic  instruc- 
tion can  give  it.  From  this  stage  he  must  pass 
directly  into  the  business,  working  world.  Many  a 
man  wakes  to  a  new  life,  develops  a  new  energy,  when 
the  paternalism  of  a  college  course  is  replaced  by  the 
comparative  independence  of  a  professional  student. 

It  was  so  with  Judge  Townsend.  He  gave  to  his 
professional  education  closer  attention  than  he  had 
bestowed  on  that  offered  him  at  college.  He  worked 
hard  and  successfull3\  A  study  from  his  pen  on  the 
subject  of  the  Roman  Advocate  as  compared  with  the 
English  Barrister,  secured  the  prize  then  annually 
offered  for  the  best  essay  on  the  Civil  Law,  and  in  the 
same  year  the  Jewell  Prize  for  the  best  dissertation  by 
one  of  the  Senior  class  was  also  won  by  him. 

The  graduate  course  at  this  School  was  established 
in  1875.  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  enter  it  and 
received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law  in  course, 
in  1880. 

While  pursuing  his  graduate  studies,  he  entered 
my  office,  and  was  then  first  introduced  to  the  actual, 
every-day  practice  of  the  bar. 

I  found  him  always  careful,  attentive,  industrious, 
anxious  to  do  his  best  and  to  make  the  most  of  every 


— 8— 

opportunity.  He  had,  to  start  with,  strong  common 
sense ;  good  powers  of  discrimination  and  anal3^sis  ; 
the  faculty  of  clear  statement  and  persuasive  argu- 
ment. His  professional  training  had  been  unusually 
thorough,  and  he  was  now  in  a  position  to  make  it  tell 
in  the  conduct  of  legal  business. 

He  soon  secured  a  clientage  of  his  own,  but  for  a 
number  of  years  we  had  our  offices  together  and  were 
bound  to  each  other  with  increasing  intimacy. 

We  had  a  new  tie  between  us  in  1881,  when  he  be- 
came Professor  of  Pleading  in  the  Law  School.  From 
the  first  he  was  a  successful  teacher.  He  loved  the 
work.  His  native  qualities  adapted  him  to  it,  and  his 
long  course  of  legal  education  had  given  him  a  broad 
foundation  on  which  to  build.  He  was  a  popular 
teacher  in  the  best  sense.  The  Governing  Board 
would  have  been  glad  to  have  him  devote  himself 
entirely  to  the  School,  and  make  teaching  his  life 
work  ;  but  he  preferred  to  retain  also  his  active  con- 
nection with  the  bar. 

In  1887,  when  the  Edward  J.  Phelps  Professorship 
of  Contracts  and  Commercial  Law  was  founded,  he 
was  appointed  to  that  position,  and  continued  to  give 
instruction  on  those  subjects  and  in  Admiralty  for  a 
number  of  years  after  he  left  the  bar. 

As  a  Judge,  the  qualities  which  had  given  him  high 
rank  as  a  practitioner,  and  a  law  teacher,  did  him 
equal  service. 

He  always  gave  his  heart  to  his  work.  His  nature 
was  enthusiastic.  What  he  did  he  did  with  his  whole 
powers  of  mind  and  body. 

No  pains  were  spared  to  prepare  himself  for  his 
work  here  as  a  teacher  of  law,  or  to  fulfill  in  a  larger 
sphere  his  work  as  a  minister  of  justice. 


— 9— 

That  of  the  District  Judge  of  the  United  States  in 
this  district  is  mainly  done  in  the  Circuit  Court ;  and 
much  of  it  in  New  York.  The  work  of  the  Circuit 
Judges  in  this  circuit  is  mainly  done  in  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals,  held  in  that  city.  Judge  Town- 
send's  court  work  was  largely  and  increasingly  there. 
After  his  appointment  as  Circuit  Judge  it  became 
mainly  of  the  kind  belonging  to  an  appellate  court. 
In  no  circuit  of  the  country  is  the  business  of  this 
nature  of  equal  magnitude  or  greater  complexity.  It 
soon  absorbed  all  his  energies,  and  he  reluctantly 
gave  up  to  others  the  work  of  instruction  here  in  the 
subjects  which  he  had  taught  so  long.  His  last  serious 
contributions  to  the  service  of  the  School  (except  as  a 
member  of  the  Governing  Board  in  the  general  direc- 
rection  of  its  affairs)  were  made  in  the  preparation  of 
the  volume  issued  by  the  Faculty  of  the  Department 
in  commemoration  of  the  Bicentennial  of  Yale  in  1901. 
Of  this — a  record  of  "Two  Centuries  Growth  of  Amer- 
ican Law  " — he  wrote  more  than  a  fifth.  His  chapter 
on  the  history  of  American  Patent  Law  may  be  espe- 
cially mentioned  as  a  careful  and  comprehensive  study 
of  the  subject,  which  has  had  deserved  influence  in 
shaping  judicial  opinion. 

In  every  court  dealing  with  patent  causes  on  appeal 
there  is  apt  to  be  one  of  the  judges  to  whom  is  gener- 
ally entrusted  the  preparation  of  the  opinions  to  be 
delivered  in  disposing  of  them.  Justice  Blatchford  per- 
formed that  office  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.  Judge  Townsend  came  to  perform  it  in  this 
circuit,  under  the  new  system  introduced  in  189 1.  It 
requires  some  aptitude  for  mechanics,  good  powers  of 
discrimination,  habits  of  close  and  patient  study,  the 
faculty  of  clear  expression.  iVll  these  he  had  and 
gave  iinreservedl}^  to  the  work. 


His  task  as  a  judicial  officer  came  to  be,  it  would 
now  seem,  beyond  the  strength  of  his  slight  frame, 
animated  though  it  was  by  an  indomitable  spirit.  And 
yet,  in  thus  serving  public  interests  he  served  his  own 
also.  There  are  those,  and  he  was  one  of  them,  to 
whom  hard  work  brings  its  daily  blessing  as  a  ban- 
isher  of  sorrow.  Melancholy  is  a  foe  to  be  expelled  at 
any  cost,  and  pre-occupation  is  often  the  only  thing 
that  avails  to  shut  it  out.  Judge  Townsend  had  his 
happy  days.  He  had  his  sad  days,  too,  and  he  had 
occasion  for  them.  Only  those  who  knew  him  best 
were  aware  how  often  his  pleasant  smile  and  ga}^  word 
only  marked  an  endeavor  to  hide  from  others  a  heavy 
heart. 

We  cannot  forget,  as  he  could  not  forget,  how  twice, 
in  recent  years,  the  shadow  of  death  fell  full  across 
his  path. 

For  long  also  he  had  felt  that  he  himself  might  be 
on  the  brink  of  the  valley  where  it  lies  deepest.  I  do 
not  think  he  feared  to  enter  it.  It  is  dying  that  such 
men  dread,  not  death.  It  was  his  happiness  that  this 
came  to  him,  at  last,  almost  unannounced.  One  day, 
looking  on  this  beautiful  plain  and  bay  of  ours  from 
the  heights  of  East  Rock  Park, — the  next,  he  was  at 
rest,  so  far  as  the  labors  of  this  world  are  concerned  ; 
and  taking  up,  it  may  be,  such  as  the  God,  in  whom 
he  steadfastly  believed,  may  have  to  give  his  children 
in  some  larger  life. 


President  HadlEy  :  As  one  for  many  years 
closely  associated  with  Judge  Townsend,  there  is  none 
better  fitted  to  speak  of  him  than  Thomas  Thacher, 
of  New  York. 


REMARKS  OF  MR.  THOMAS  THACHER. 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  :  A  meeting 
in  memory  of  Judge  Townsend  must  not  be — cannot 
be — one  of  mourning.  We  meet  not  to  mourn,  but 
to  rejoice  over  his  life — now  in  a  sense  ended,  but 
yet  still  continuing  (else  we  should  not  be  here)  ;  to 
feel  the  force  of  that  life,  and  of  the  character  which 
lay  behind  it,  which  was  developed  in  it,  and  which  is 
revealed  by  it — more  than  ever  before  since  his  death. 

Out  of  the  memory  of  college  days  there  come  to 
me,  as  singularly  appropriate  to  this  occasion,  these 
words  of  Pliny :  "  Si  fas  est  mortem  vocare,  qua  mor- 
talitas  tanti  viri  magis  finita  quam  vita  est" — "  If  it  is 
right  to  call  that  death  by  which  the  mortality  of  such 
a  man,  rather  than  his  life,  is  ended."  Does  not  death 
seem  to  give  completeness  to  such  a  life  ?  It  puts  it 
beyond  the  possibility  of  impairment — makes  it  im- 
mortal. Things  begun  and  not  yet  finished  must  be 
passed  over  to  others  ;  but  this  is  in  the  natural  order 
of  things.  This  life  would  not  seem  so  complete  as  it 
does,  if  it  were  not  for  these  unfinished  things,  look- 
ing forward  into  and  preparing  for  the  years  to  come. 
Singularly,  as  it  seems  to  me,  death  makes  this  life 
complete.     It  is  for  us,  so  far  as  we  may,  to  see  to  it 


■12- 


that  its  influence  shall  not  simply  live,  but  grow,  while 
time  shall  endure. 

Nothing  can  be  said  from  this  platform  which  will 
compare  with  what  is  in  your  minds  and  hearts.  We 
can  say  but  one  thing  at  a  time  ;  we  have  to  analyze, 
speaking  of  this  and  of  that,  and  trying  by  separate 
suggestions  to  show  that  life  and  character.  But  what 
we  have  in  mind  is  the  grand  total  of  a  man,  without 
measuring  how  much  is  intellectual,  how  much  is  of 
the  heart,  and  so  on,  the  union  of  many  elements 
which  made  the  Billy  Townsend  whom  we  knew  and 
loved  and  who  loved  us.  A  few  words  of  suggestion 
is  all  we  can  give. 

Many  years  ago,  when  Judge  Townsend  was  called 
on  to  speak  at  an  athletic  dinner  he  began  with  the 
words  "  Fellow  Athletes  "  ;  this  with  a  smile,  and  the 
smile  caught  and  went  all  over  the  room  for  reasons 
that  are  obvious ;  and  yet  do  you  believe,  with  the 
revelation  of  his  life  as  a  whole,  that  there  was  a 
man  within  the  reach  of  his  voice  who  was  more 
filled  with  love  of  honorable  struggle,  and  with  eager- 
ness for  victory,  in  any  worthy  contest  than  he  was  ? 
Or  one  who  had  more  of  the  nerve  of  will  to  back 
whatever  of  strength  of  any  kind  he  could  find  within 
himself?  And  if  it  be  the  special  function  of  the 
athlete  to  take  the  blows  that  come  with  good  grace, 
and  be  ready  quickly  and  with  good  cheer  for  the 
work  which  yet  is  to  be  done,  can  you  name  a  man 
who  was  entitled,  through  life,  to  a  higher  place  as  a 
''fellow  athlete"? 

Now,  I  do  not  like  to  pick  to  pieces  this  flower.  I 
do  not  like  to  say  what  was  the  secret  of  Judge  Town- 
send's  success,  or  what  were  the  several  elements  of 
the  beauty  of  his  character.     But  somehow  or  other 


—13— 

there  are  two  words  that  come  to  me — three  words 
that  come  to  me ;  joy,  happiness,  and  love.  There 
never  \vas  a  man  who  had  a  bigger  power  of  enjoy- 
ment of  men  and  things,  of  work  and  play,  than  he. 
There  never  was  a  man,  to  my  knowledge,  who  had  a 
broader  reach  of  love  for  his  fellow-men.  No  man 
had  a  keener  sense  of  happiness,  or  a  stronger  desire 
to  give  happiness  to  others.  And  he  loved  his  work, 
whatever  it  was  ;  he  loved  the  law  as  a  science  and  as 
a  task ;  difficulty  was  but  a  spur  to  him ;  out  of  the 
burdens  of  duty  he  got  pleasure.  There  are  those 
who  would  give  no  praise  for  deeds  which  give 
pleasure  to  the  doer.  From  such  persons,  Judge 
Townsend  ^vould  be  entitled  to  little  praise.  When  a 
thing  was  right  to  be  done,  was  called  for  by  his  sense 
of  duty,  by  his  general  love  of  humanity,  or  his  par- 
ticular love  for  particular  men,  women  or  children,  of 
whatever  race,  color  or  condition,  it  became  a  pleasure 
to  him  to  do  it.  If  the  getting  of  pleasure  out  of 
deeds  done  robs  them  of  merit,  Judge  Townsend's 
merit  marks  would  perhaps  be  few ;  but  he  gave  us  a 
noted  example  of  the  power  of  character  to  make 
pleasure  out  of  that  which  at  first  seems  hardship ;  to 
get  enjoyment  out  of  doing,  no  matter  how  hard  the 
doing  seems  at  first  to  be.  A  sense  of  duty  he  had, 
but  it  never  was  a  severe  goad  to  him,  because,  when 
duty  was  seen  he  wanted  to  do  it,  and  took  pleasure 
in  it. 

It  is  not  a  unique  distinction  to  have  been  loved  by 
Judge  Townsend ;  for  many  share  in  that  honor.  It 
is  no  great  credit  to  have  loved  him  for  years,  for 
there  is  a  host  of  those  who  loved  him.  But  it  is  a 
great  thing  to  have  felt  and  to  still  feel  the  force  of 
that  life  of  jo}^  and  happiness,  notwithstanding  hard- 


—14— 

ship  and  sorrow,  and  of  that  all-embracing  love  for 
his  fellow-men.  And  it  is  a  privilege  to  do  what  we 
can  to  secure  that  the  influence  of  that  life,  which 
death  has  now  made  immortal,  shall  endure. 

I  have  not  said  much,  for  I  do  not  wish  to  analyze. 
The  sweetness  of  the  rose  gains  nothing  from  botani- 
cal analysis.  I  would  rather  not  go  on  using  words. 
Better  is  it  to  listen  without  restraint  to  the  song 
without  words  that  is  singing  in  our  hearts  to-night. 


REMARKS  OF  PROFESSOR  WATROUS. 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 

To  you,  whose  presence  here  gives  mute  testimony 
to  your  friendship  and  love  for  William  K.  Townsend, 
I,  who  also  loved  him,  would  add  a  few  words  to  those 
that  have  been  spoken  in  his  memory,  and  to  voice  our 
common  sorrow. 

Before  me  are  men  who  taught  him  and  men  who 
learned  from  him;  men  who  were  with  and  against 
him  in  the  practice  of  the  law ;  men  who  are  engaged 
as  he  was,  in  the  administration  of  justice  ;  men  and 
women  who  have  known  or  been  associated  with  him, 
in  all  of  the  varied  activities  of  his  life.  And  yet  how 
few  are  we  compared  with  the  host  of  men  and  women 
who  have  known  him,  in  many  parts  of  the  world,  and 
whose  hearts  ache  with  sorrow  at  his  death. 

Though  his  achievements  were  many,  and  well 
worthy  of  encomium,  it  is  rather  a  sense  of  personal 
loss  which  has  brought  us  together,  and  which  will 
dominate  our  thoughts  to-night. 

In  these  few  words  there  must  of  necessity  be  much 
that  is  personal,  but  that  you  must  pardon  me.  I  can- 
not speak  of  him  impersonally,  and  I  do  not  think  you 
would  wish  me  to.  I  wish  to  speak  of  him  as  your 
friend  and  mine. 

For  seven  years  we  were  bound  together  by  the  ties 
of  partnership  in  the  practice  of  our  profession,  and 
the  friendship  there  formed  continued  undiminished 
throughout  his  life.  The  memory  of  it  will  be  one  of 
my  dearest  possessions  throughout  my  own. 


— 16— 

Our  acquaintance  began  while  I  was  yet  in  college, 
some  years  before  he  began  the  work  of  instruction  in 
this  School  of  Law. 

When  I  came  to  the  bar,  his  personality,  his  profes- 
sional enthusiasm  and  standards  of  professional  duty 
so  appealed  to  me  that  of  all  the  members  of  the  bar 
then  in  practice,  I  most  wished  to  be  associated  with 
him  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 

Fortunately  for  me  he  acceded  to  my  suggestion,  and 
on  May  ist,  1885,  we  began  our  professional  life  to- 
gether under  the  firm  name  of  Townsend  &  Watrous, 
in  the  old  Ivcffingwell  Building,  which  for  many  years 
before  had  been  the  home  of  the  Yale  Law  School. 
The  old  sign  of  Button  &  Watrous  still  hung  out  in 
front  of  our  offices.  Neither  of  us  wished  to  take  it 
down  and  it  stayed  there  throughout. 

The  memory  of  the  enthusiasm  of  those  first  few 
days  together  is  still  vivid.  Many  a  night  we  sat  up 
till  the  early  morning  hours  addressing  our  notices  of 
partnership,  as  many  a  night  afterward  we  sat  up  dis- 
cussing knotty  problems  of  law,  of  tactics  or  of  ethics. 

With  this  same  enthusiasm  he  plunged  into  his 
professional  life  under  these  changed  conditions. 
Bvery  new  case,  every  new  client,  gave  him  a  new 
pleasure.  It  would  have  been  a  revelation  to  many, 
who  knew  him  but  slightly,  if  they  could  have  known 
his  capacity  for  hard  and  serious  work. 

His  light-heartedness,  his  love  for  a  joke  or  a  good 
story,  his  fondness  for  all  honest  pleasures,  seemed  to 
many  inconsistent  with  an  ability  to  attack  and  master 
the  profounder  problems  of  professional  work. 

A  stranger  sometimes  looked  askance,  but  for  a 
moment  only.  This  feeling  was  almost  instantly  dis- 
pelled.    He  inspired  his   clients  with  confidence  and 


—17— 

they  became  his  devoted  friends.  Whether  a  case  was 
won  or  lost,  they  felt  that  he  had  done  his  utmost. 

While  in  the  work  of  the-  ofhce  he  was  painstaking 
and  industrious,  it  was  in  the  court  room  that  he  was 
at  his  best.  In  cross-examination  he  was  brilliant, 
and  before  a  jury  his  addresses,  at  once  sound  and 
sparkling,  won  many  a  verdict. 

His  fund  of  humor  was  inexhaustible  and  the  humor 
itself  inimitable.  No  matter  how  dry  the  subject  of 
investigation,  or  how  heated  the  controversy,  he  never 
failed  to  enliven  it  by  his  wit,  and  often  brought 
enemies  together  and  made  them  friends. 

It  was  an  unfailing  source  of  amusement  between 
us,  that  in  the  discussion  of  a  legal  problem  we  almost 
invariably  approached  it  from  different  sides  and  with 
different  impressions.  When  we  finished,  we  were 
almost  invariably  together.  He  had  no  false  pride  of 
opinion,  and  was  as  generous  in  yielding,  as  he  was 
gracious  in  accepting  a  surrender. 

A  fair  measure  of  success  attended  oiir  labors.  We 
learned  how  to  rejoice  in  victory,  and  how  to  submit 
to  defeat.  Our  practice  was  varied,  and  led  him  into 
almost  every  State  and  Federal  Court. 

Admiralty  cases  were  his  chief  delight,  and  of  the 
few  cases  of  that  kind  in  this  district,  a  large  share 
came  to  him. 

In  the  few  patent  cases  which  came  to  him,  he  was 
most  distrustful  of  himself,  and  yet,  strangely  enough, 
it  was  in  this  class  of  cases  that  he  did  his  best  work 
and  gained  most  renown,  in  his  subsequent  career 
upon  the  Federal  bench. 

It  is  outside  my  purpose  to  name  the  cases  in  which 
he  took  part.  They  are  to  be  found  in  the  records  of 
many  courts.  It  is  chiefly  of  the  man  and  of  his 
methods  of  work  that  I  wish  to  speak. 


— 18— 

Mauy  of  our  most  important  cases  came  to  him  from 
personal  friends,  though  our  connection  with  many 
local  interests  indentified  us  with  the  life  of  this  com- 
niunit}^,  and  gave  us  a  share  in  the  work  of  consolida- 
tion of  interests  which  had  been  so  conspicuous  a 
feature  of  the  last  half  century. 

Much  of  our  work  was  for  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  Co.  A  sincere  attach- 
ment grew  up  between  him  and  President  C.  P.  Clark, 
which  led  Mr.  Clark  to  offer  him  a  high  permanent 
position  in  the  legal  department  of  the  company. 
Mainl}^,  I  think,  through  lo3^alty  to  the  firm,  he  de- 
clined it. 

Politics  interested  him  to  a  high  degree,  and  friends 
vied  with  one  another  to  do  him  political  honor,  when- 
ever opportunity  came. 

He  was  made  the  first  president  of  the  Young  Men's 
Republican  Club,  after  its  reorganization  in  1885,  and 
throughout  its  early  history  his  energetic  efforts  did 
much  to  start  it  upon  its  career  of  constantly  increas- 
ing power  and  healthful  influence. 

In  1889,  after  much  excited  campaigning,  he  was 
elected  Corporation  Counsel  of  the  City  of  New  Haven. 

His  work  here,  as  everywhere,  was  faithful  and 
conscientious,  and  his  record  of  service  has  been  an 
example  and  inspiration  to  his  successors  in  that  office. 

Throughout  the  whole  period  of  our  partnership  he 
was  engaged  actively  in  the  work  of  instruction,  as  a 
Professor  in  this  School.  In  this  he  was  remarkably 
successful  and  his  personal  popularity  was  unbounded. 
In  those  days  more  than  now,  students  entered  offices, 
as  clerks,  during  their  Law  School  courses,  and  during 
these  years  many  of  the  best  men  sought  the  privilege 
of  more  intimate  association  with  him,  in  his  office. 


—19— 

Many  of  them  have  fulfilled  the  promises  of  their 
early  years.  We  thought  of  them  as  our  boys,  and  it 
was  a  delight  to  him  to  follow  their  professional  careers 
and  rejoice  in  their  triumphs. 

Later  it  became  my  privilege  to  be  associated  with 
him  as  a  member  of  the  Faculty,  and  later  still,  of  the 
Governing  Board. 

This  added  one  more  tie  to  the  many  that  bound  me 
to  him.  His  interest  in  the  School  was  very  great 
and  his  regard  for  his  associates  was  no  less  than 
theirs  for  him.  Such  ties,  formed  in  the  work  of  up- 
building an  institution  like  this,  are  not  lightly 
severed. 

Professor  Townsend  threw  himself  with  zeal  into 
all  of  these  many  labors,  he  could  not  work  with  mod- 
eration but  nervously,  fitfully,  and  his  health,  never 
rugged,  many  times  gave  way,  and  made  rest  impera- 
tive. He  put  his  whole  heart  into  his  work,  as  he  did 
into  his  friendships.  His  power  of  recuperation,  how- 
ever, was  remarkable,  and  he  always  came  back 
apparently  as  full  of  life  and  vigor  as  ever. 

But  the  constant  strain  of  such  intense  effort  wore 
upon  him,  and  when  in  1892,  the  appointment  to  the 
position  of  U.  S.  District  Judge  came  to  him,  he  felt 
bound,  though  with  much  reluctance,  to  accept  it. 

Before  that  time,  Mr.  Edward  G.  Buckland,  who 
had  been  with  us  as  clerk  and  had  proved  himself 
invaluable  in  lightening  our  labors,  had  been  admitted 
to  the  firm. 

With  this  judicial  appointment,  he  began  a  new  and 
distinguished  career  in  the  public  service.  Others 
have  told  and  will  tell  of  the  extent  and  value  of  that 
service. 


Faculties  and  capacities — unsuspected  even  by  him- 
self— soon  showed  themselves,  and  his  administration 
of  his  high  office  has  been  a  pride  and  a  delight  to  his 
friends. 

His  promotion  to  the  position  of  Circuit  Judge  fol- 
lowed, upon  Judge  Shipman's  retirement,  and  of  late 
years  his  time  has  been  mainly  given  to  service  in  the 
U.  S.  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  necessitating  his  con- 
stant presence  and  virtually  his  residence  in  the  City 
of  New  York. 

But  one  step  higher  could  be  taken,  and  it  is  the 
confident  belief  of  his  friends  that  had  his  life  been 
spared,  even  this  step  he  would  have  taken. 

Memories  crowd  in  upon  me,  as  I  try  to  tell  briefly 
and  simply  the  outlines  of  our  professional  life  to- 
gether. Not  one  mars  the  pleasure  of  those  recollec- 
tions. Never  an  unkind  word  nor  an  unkind  thought 
passed  between  us.  He  never  shirked  an  unpleasant 
duty.     He  bore  his  full  share  of  every  burden. 

In  later  years  he  often  looked  back  with  a  longing 
for  the  arena,  but  he  realized  that  the  strain  and  stress 
were  too  great  for  his  frail  strength.  He  worked, 
perhaps,  as  hard,  but  under  less  exacting  conditions. 
His  judicial  work  was  very  congenial  to  him  and  he 
often  spoke  with  keen  pleasure  of  his  close  and  cordial 
relationship  with  his  brethren  on  the  bench. 

While  we  dwell  upon  his  lovable  and  admirable 
characteristics,  it  does  not  mean  that  we  deem  him 
faultless.     He  was  too  intensely  human  for  that. 

His  was  a  personality  of  rare  charm.  He  had  a 
most  extraordinary  faculty  for  making  and  holding 
friends  and  was  loyal  and  devoted  to  them. 

He  was  a  gentleman — brave  and  true !  Few  men 
have  had  a  greater  measure  of  happiness  in  their  lives, 
and  few  have  had  more  crushing  sorrows  to  bear. 


-21- 


But  he  bore  them  bravely. 

The  world  has  been  happier  and  better  for  tlie  life 
which  he  led  ;  he  has  left  us  a  rich  heritage  of  memo- 
ries which  will  help  us  to  bear  the  pain  of  parting. 


REMARKS  OF    PRESIDENT  HADLEY. 

My  first  real  acquaintance  with  the  work  of  Judge 
Townsend  came  when  several  of  my  friends  entered 
the  Yale  Law  School.  They  were  quite  carried  away 
by  the  enthusiasm  of  his  teaching.  They  praised  his 
clearness,  his  close  establishment  of  the  relation 
between  case  and  principle,  and  above  all  things  the 
concrete  way  in  which  he  showed  them  how  the  law 
was  an  active  agent  in  the  ordering  of  human  affairs. 
As  his  professional  work  widened  and  I  came  to  know 
more  of  it,  the  impression  of  these  qualities  broadened 
and  deepened.  Judge  Townsend  was  one  of  those 
men,  rather  rare  in  our  day,  upon  whom  had  descended 
the  spirit  of  the  great  English  lawyers  and  judges  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  He  had  the  sort  of  inspira- 
tion which  made  the  underlying  reasons  for  his  con- 
clusions clear  to  the  layman  as  well  as  to  the  lawyer. 
This  was  partly  due  to  the  character  of  his  mind ;  it 
was  due  still  more,  I  suspect,  to  his  enthusiastic  inter- 
est in  the  people  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  It 
was  not  enough  for  him  to  have  established  a  proposi- 
tion in  such  a  way  that  they  could  not  refute  it.  He 
desired  to  get  the  thing  into  such  shape  that  their 
minds  could  work  on  it  as  his  mind  worked  on  it. 
The  principle  that  good  law  was  good  common  sense 
was  to  him  not  a  mere  aphorism.  It  was  the  outcome 
of  a  social  instinct  which  demanded  that  he  and  his 
friends  should  be  able  to  look  at  legal  principles  in 
the  same  light — or  at  any  rate  just  as  far  as  their 
intelligence  and  their  information  would  permit. 


—23— 

As  I  came  to  know  Judge  Townsend  better  and  bet- 
ter, the  sense  of  this  community  of  feeling,  of  the 
strength  of  this  underlying  sentiment,  of  the  man 
working  among  men,  came  more  and  more  into  the 
foreground.  And  with  it  came  also,  very  gradually, 
a  knowledge  of  the  dilhculties  and  burdens  under 
which  he  worked.  For  his  strong  instinct  of  friend- 
ship did  not  serve  merely  as  a  means  of  professional 
inspiration  ;  it  was  a  means  of  facing  courageously 
days  that  were  full  of  both  good  and  ill,  and  resolutely 
choosing  the  good. 

Five  years  ago  he  sent  me  those  wonderful  lines  of 
Ironquill  on  whist ;  quoting  them  from  memory,  with 
a  characteristic  change  of  his  own  that  he  had  uncon- 
sciously introduced,  and  which  I  give  in  repeating 
them. 

"  Hour  after  hour  the  cards  were  fairly  shuffled 
Aud  fairly  dealt ;  yet  still  I  got  no  hand. 
I  rose  from  play,  and  with  a  mind  unruffled 
I  only  said,  'I  do  not  understand.' 

"  Life  is  a  game  of  whist.     From  unseen  sources 
The  cards  are  shuffled  aud  the  hands  are  dealt. 
Blind  are  our  efforts  to  control  the  forces 
Which,  though  unseen,  are  no  less  strongly  felt. 

"I  do  not  like  the  way  the  cards  are  shuffled  ; 
But  yet  I'm  in  the  game,  and  bound  to  stay  ; 
And  through  the  long,  long  night  will  I,  unruffled, 
Play  what  I  get  until  the  break  of  day." 

More  and  more,  as  the  years  went  on,  I  felt  that  these 
words  were  made  good  in  his  life.  I  have  seen  some 
men  who  under  the  pressure  of  misfortune  or  infirmity 
could  give  up  the  fight  and  smile  the  smile  of  resig- 
nation. I  have  seen  some  who  could  set  their  teeth 
and  fight  on  grimly  till  the  end  came.  William 
Kneeland  Townsend  was  the  only  man  I  ever  saw 


—24— 

who  had  the  courage  to  keep  up  the  fight  against 
overwhelming  odds  and  to  bear  the  smile  on  his  face 
at  the  same  time.  He  stayed  in  the  game  to  the  end. 
Good  hands  or  bad  hands,  he  played  them  for  all  thc}^ 
were  worth.  The  break  of  day  found  him,  with 
strength  reduced  to  a  shadow  and  with  endurance 
stretched  to  the  breaking  point,  but  with  mind  unruf- 
fled, with  nerve  unshaken,  with  courage  unconquered 
and  unconquerable. 


,r^'    or  thC 

of       y 


